An operator of an aircraft must often maneuver the aircraft while on the ground. This may happen during ground operations such as when the aircraft is taxiing, being maneuvered to or from a hangar, or backing an aircraft away from a terminal.
Obstacles on the ground, such as structures, other aircraft, vehicles and other obstacles, may lie in the path of a taxing aircraft. Operators are trained to detect these obstacles using their sense of sight. However, in many cases, due to the dimensions of the aircraft (e.g., large wing sweep angles, distance from cockpit to wingtip and winglets on the wingtip) and the operator's limited field of view of the areas surrounding the aircraft, it can be difficult for an operator to monitor extremes of the aircraft during ground operations. As a result, the operator may fail to detect obstacles that may be in the path of the wingtips or winglets of the aircraft. In many cases, the operator may only detect an obstacle when it is too late to take evasive action needed to prevent a collision with an obstacle.
Collisions with an obstacle can not only damage the aircraft, but can also put the aircraft out of service and result in flight cancellations. The costs associated with the repair and grounding of an aircraft can be significant. As such, the timely detection and avoidance of obstacles that lie in the ground path of an aircraft is an important issue that needs to be addressed.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods, systems and apparatus that can reduce the likelihood of and/or prevent collisions between aircraft and obstacles. It would also be desirable to assist the operator with maneuvering the aircraft and to provide an operator with aided guidance while maneuvering the aircraft so that collisions with such obstacles can be avoided. It would also be desirable to provide technologies that can be used to detect obstacles on the ground and identify an aircraft's predicted position with respect to the detected obstacles. It would also be desirable to provide the operator with an opportunity to take appropriate steps to avoid a collision from occurring between the aircraft and the detected obstacles. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and the foregoing technical field and background.